The prior art teaches knuckle assemblies for use in automotive suspensions in which a cast, stamped, or forged knuckle body is provided with a toleranced bore within which to receive a precisely-machined inboard end of an elongated cast or forged spindle. The spindle is inserted within the bore of the knuckle body and thereafter typically maintained in the knuckle body by virtue of a press or shrink (interference) fit achieved between the bore and the machined end of the spindle.
Unfortunately, this prior art approach requires the machining of both the knuckle body bore and the inboard end of the spindle to rather high tolerances, thereby increasing manufacturing costs. Moreover, the resulting interference between the installed spindle and the knuckle body is further characterized by a relatively limited ability to resist the application of an applied torque, as might be experienced if the outboard (cantilevered) end of the spindle was machined after the spindle is installed in the knuckle body. As a result, the prior art press-fit and shrink-fit approaches necessarily require that the outboard end of the spindle also be machined to a desired surface contour and dimensional tolerance before the spindle is installed in the knuckle body.